Play Your Arts Right

Amazing Playing Card Deck that Features the Work of 55 Top Designers

Playing cards are a defiantly analogue item in an increasingly digital world. Novelty decks have been around for nearly as long as cards themselves, with unusual designs made to make the games a little more fun. But we doubt you’ll ever have seen a deck as beautiful, inspirational and varied as the new offering from Playing Arts.

“We found that the deck of playing cards was just an ideal format to display artists’ works under one roof,” Vlad from Playing Arts tells us. “Literally it’s a tiny gallery with 55 pieces of art.” The forthcoming second deck is certainly an embarrassment of artistic and design riches boasting leading lights from a number of fields, each of whom responds to the format in their own unique way.

Vlad has been a graphic designer himself for more than 10 years and also runs the popular arts and design magazine, Digital Abstracts. “Our artists database was growing and we decided to gather them under one single collaborative project. That’s how Playing Arts was born,” Vlad explains.

We got Vlad to tell us what the deal was:

The Plus: This is the second deck, what was the response like to the first one?
Vlad: The very first deck we released was the Creative Cards deck It was printed in a limited run and quickly sold out. It was a huge success.

TP: How did you find the artists to feature?
V: Most of the artists are our old friends, we were featuring them on Digital Abstracts for ages. We also receive a lot of portfolios from different artists and invite some of them too. So, don’t be shy, submit your profile here.

TP: How can card games continue to stay relevant in the era of online gaming and mobile phones?
V: Online is fun, but holding cards in your hands is so much more awesome. We care a lot about quality and order printing from one of the best playing cards manufacturer – USPCC, they feel really nice.

TP: What’s your favourite card game?
V: Strip poker, of course!

TP: Will there be a 3rd set?
V: Yes, and this time we are inviting everybody to participate. No details yet, but if you are designer or illustrator and want to take part in the next edition, submit your profile NOW.